Dominoes
by RagingStorms7482
Summary: Seventeen RWBY characters, heroes and villains alike, get a mysterious message. They have to go to a worn down building during the night. What happens to them?
1. The Gathering

Team RWBY was in their dorm getting ready for bed. It was almost time for them to sleep when all of their Scrolls went off with the text message sound. The girls looked at each other in confusion.

"Did our Scrolls just go off at the same time?!" Ruby exclaimed, her silver orbs wide in fear. She slowly crawled under Weiss's bed, still staring at the four devices neatly lined up on the bookshelf.

The four shrieked as they went off again, signaling two text messages so far. They hid under the heiress's bed together in their team order, scared out of their minds. They waited a few minutes before uttering a word.

"So..." Yang started slowly with a gulp. "Anyone getting that?"

Nobody answered her, fearing that something would jump out of their Scrolls and eat them. Something along the lines of an attack kept crossing their minds. They wouldn't even spare their devices a mere glance, let alone volunteer to go near them.

"Fine."

Yang slid out from under the bed, not taking her eyes off of the four Scrolls as she approached them with great caution. She opened them and read the messages. They all said the same thing:

Go to 18472 Time Street.

Dress fancy and don't be late. Be there at 10:15 sharp.

"Guys..." Yang looked at the heads of her teammates poking out from under the bed. "Put on your dance dresses, we're going out tonight."

* * *

><p>Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang reached their destination, a small worn down building that looked like a box, in their dance dresses. They fidgeted nervously, hugging themselves as a chilling breeze swept by. Weiss heard squishy footsteps that sounded like they were stepping in puddles on the sidewalk, and turned around. It was very dark out, but she could tell who they were.<p>

"JNPR?" Weiss questioned, sending them a funny look. "What are you doing here? In your fancy outfits, no less?"

"We got a text telling us to come here," Jaune informed them, looking at the building nervously and taking its image in. "What about you?"

"We got the same thing," Blake said, a suspicious tone in her voice. She looked down, a finger on her chin. "Who would want us here? Why?"

"Whoever it is, I hope they don't hurt us," a soft voice said from behind JNPR.

Yang looked over Pyrrha's shoulder and saw Velvet, a second year student at Beacon.

"Velvet?" Yang called, confused. What would a second year be doing there?

"Did you get a mysterious text too?" Velvet asked. She wore a simple brown knee-length dress and matching flats with bows on the toes.

"Yeah, we did," Pyrrha nodded, a look of concern on her face replacing her usual polite smile. "I think we'd better get inside, though. It's probably 10:15 and we shouldn't be late."

The Beacon students nodded. Nora and Yang had to work together to open the large, metal double doors. They had no handles, so they had to pull from the small gap in the middle to open them. When the task was completed, they entered the building.

The structure turned out to only be a large room. It was furnished like a living room with its antique-looking furniture. There were four light green couches surrounding a rich brown ovular table and a few comfy chairs matching the couches were scattered throughout the room. Green wallpaper was stuck to the walls and a golden chandelier shone brightly as it hung from the ceiling.

What surprised them was the fact that there were already eight people in the room, all of which team RWBY was familiar with. One couch was occupied by the Malachite Twins, Melanie and Miltia, and on another were Emerald and Penny. Mercury, Roman, Cinder and Neo were on their own comfy chairs.

"What are you doing here?!" Yang exclaimed, pointing her finger accusingly at all of them.

"We got a text," Emerald said blankly, turning to look at them, "saying we had to be here by 10:15. I guess you guys did too, you're here in fancy clothes like us."

"But he's not fancy," Nora pointed at Roman.

"Yes I am!" Roman glared at her, shaking his fist. "You wouldn't know class if it punched you in the nose!"

Nora took great offense to that. She stomped over to Roman and took his hat off his head, putting it on her own.

"I believe this is classy," Nora tried mimicking a man's voice, but failed miserably. She tipped her hat at him. "M'lady."

Roman was livid, his face red in embarrassment. "Give it back!"

Nora was then chased by Roman around the room, Neo giggling quietly at their actions.

All fun and games ceased when the door suddenly slammed shut with a booming clang. Everyone jumped out of their skins, yelping loudly. Weiss shrieked and did a running leap onto a couch, landing between Emerald and Penny. She curled up, assuming the fetal position and staring at her knees.

Roman fell on Nora, but emerged with his hat back on his head and went back to his comfy chair triumphantly. Everyone else was frozen in place, shock written all over their faces. Nobody spoke for what felt like an eternity.

"W-what was t-that?" Velvet squeaked, breaking the silence.

"Probably the wind," Jaune said nervously.

"I don't think the gentle breeze could slam a heavy metal door," Melanie retorted, crossing her arms.

"It could've been a strong wind!"

"Either way," Mercury interjected with a wave of his hand, "the door's closed. There's nothing we can do about it, so stop fighting over the wind's power."

Ruby sighed. "He's right. We just sit here now, I guess."

"And do what?" Cinder said, looking up at Ruby from her manicure in disgust. "We're stuck here with nothing but you, and I'm sure you don't do much."

Yang looked flabbergasted before getting angry and clenching her fists, taking a step toward Cinder. "I'll have you know we do many things. We do a ton of stuff, just not in a room with our enemies!"

"We don't like you much either, you know," Melanie pointed out, crossing one leg primly over the other. "We're not displaying it openly, unlike you."

"You seem pretty open right now," Weiss glared icily at Melanie, who mimicked her look, this starting a staring contest.

"Guys, just stop fighting please," Pyrrha said desperately. "We just have to open the door, then we can leave. I don't think whoever wants us is coming anytime soon."

"I think whoever has their weapon on them should open the door," Blake said, giving her two cents before sitting down beside Miltia.

Everyone looked at Mercury expectantly.

"What?!" Mercury blurted in confusion, throwing his arms out to his sides. "Why are you looking at me?!"

"You don't go anywhere without your Shooty Booties, Mercury," Emerald teased with a small smirk.

"Pffft, of course I do," Mercury rolled his eyes. "I don't wear them when I sleep."

"That aside, do you have them right now?" Penny piped up.

"Yeah, actually," Mercury nodded, standing.

Mercury strode confidently to the door and got into his battle stance. Everyone watched in silence as he kicked the door multiple times, barely making a dent. This dulled his confidence a little, so he puffed his cheeks and placed a harder kick to the hunk of metal.

Melanie decided to help him out by slashing the other side of the door with her bladed heels, leaving the faintest marks behind.

"This isn't working at all," Melanie huffed, going back to her spot on the couch beside Miltia.

"Don't you have your cane?" Mercury asked Roman, going back to his seat also.

"He has a cane?" Velvet asked innocently. "But isn't he too young for one?"

"You're never too young for a cane gun," Roman joked, standing with a twirl of Melodic Cudgel. He aimed the end of his cane at the door. "Cover your ears!"

Everyone covered their ears except for Velvet, who had no idea what to do with her rabbit ears. She tried folding them over, but the farthest they could go was a ninety degree angle. She opted for plugging them with her fingers.

Roman fired a flare at the chunk of metal, creating a small but loud explosion, which didn't do a thing to the door.

"What?!" Roman shouted in disbelief and disappointment. "How could it not—!"

"Roman," Cinder's disapproving voice carried across the room. "You're acting like a child. Sit back down and we'll think of something."

Roman grudgingly obeyed her orders and sat back down, a frown on his face.

"There isn't much we can do," Pyrrha sighed, worried about what would happen when her team, RWBY and Velvet got back to Beacon. They would surely get a stern lecture about curfew and responsibility from Goodwitch.

"There isn't even a lock to break," Miltia added.

Nora's head swiveled around in search of something, anything, that could help them escape. She found a small machine that greatly resembled a security camera on the back wall. It was positioned behind Neo, who sat silently with one leg crossed over the other and her hands in her lap.

"What's this?" Nora whispered to herself, skipping over to the machine.

Neo watched in amusement and curiosity as Nora poked the thing several times. She gasped as purple smoke erupted from a hole in the machine and the cap that covered it fell to the floor. The room was quickly blanketed in a lilac color.

The smoke was inhaled by the room's occupants and they started having loud coughing fits. Those who were standing staggered, knees buckling, causing them to collapse as their consciousness slipped away. The ones who were sitting merely slumped over as everything turned black.

What went unnoticed by them was the soul-tearing scream ringing upon their deaf ears.


	2. Number One

Blood. Rotting flesh. Nothing could rival the foul stench that held Ruby's nose captive in its merciless binds.

The young girl's silver eyes slowly opened, her nose scrunched from the odor. She had been knocked out and had collapsed, still lying on the dark hardwood floor. Ruby lifted her head, her eyes focusing. She struggled to get up, but was able to stand on her own two feet. She scanned the room.

Penny was just peeling herself away from Weiss, whose head was on her shoulder and hand on her leg. As Weiss was gently pushed away, she fell on Emerald, who jerked away from the sudden impact.

On the couch opposite of Penny's, the three raven-haired girls were piled on top of each other like dominoes.

JNPR was scattered in the couch area, all four lying on the floor, Nora's upper body supported by the table. Yang was lying beside Jaune, her foot resting on his stomach.

Roman, Cinder, Mercury and Neo were either leaning back or to the side in their comfy chairs, eyes clenched shut.

'Where's Velvet?!' Ruby thought in alarm.

She turned her head and was met with a sight she would never forget. Velvet Scarletina was at Cinder's feet, just in front of her chair, in a dried up pool of her own blood. She lay on her stomach with a stab wound visible on her back, her head turned to the side.

What traumatized Ruby the most was her facial expression. Her dull, lifeless eyes were wide open, two pools of black staring at Ruby's crimson red flats. Her eyebrows were arched in surprise, a tear stain visible on her cheek.

"V-Velvet...?" Ruby's voice cracked as she choked on her own tears. Her silver orbs were shining with the salty substance.

"Oh my God!" Emerald gasped, popping up from the couch, eyes wide in concern. "What happened?"

"I don't know..." Ruby was at a loss for words. She realized where Velvet was. "Did Cinder...?"

"No. She couldn't have," Emerald said firmly, looking Ruby in the eyes.

"But can't she make weapons in her hands?" Ruby asked weakly, shrinking under Emerald's stony stare.

"Well, yeah, but..." Emerald fumbled, caught off guard. "We'll figure it out later. We have to wake everyone up."

* * *

><p>"What did— how—?!" Miltia stammered, as shocked as everyone else around Velvet's corpse.<p>

"She's at Cinder's feet, you know," Weiss pointed out, giving Cinder an icy look. "You staged this."

Nora gasped, pointing accusingly at the fire maiden. "You did it! But... why?"

"I don't have any reason to attack her," Cinder frowned at the very accusation.

"Or do you?!" Penny said dramatically, gesturing to Cinder with a flourish of her hand. Blank looks were sent her way. "Sorry," she retracted her hand.

"Is there no way to bring her back?" Pyrrha asked, her voice weak and sorrowful.

"I doubt it," Melanie scoffed, turning her nose up. "She's been dead for too long. Her blood is dry as bone."

"What do we do with her, then?" Weiss asked slowly, fearing the possibilities.

"The door's shut," Yang said, grunting in effort as she tried opening the door for emphasis. "So there's nowhere to go."

"So, what you're saying is we leave her here like this," Mercury raised an eyebrow, "right? Because she can't go anywhere else. You mean she has to rot out in the open?"

"I was only saying we couldn't leave!"

"Then what do we do?"

Cinder smirked, which was enough hint as to what she was thinking.

"No. We can't do that," Pyrrha shook her head. "There's nowhere for the smoke to escape."

"You're convincing me that you did it," Blake voiced her thoughts, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at Cinder. "You seem so willing to cremate her. Seeing as you're our enemy, it just makes sense that you would kill one of our friends. You brought us here after all, didn't you?"

"No," Cinder said calmly, despite all the accusations thrown her way. "I don't see much significance in her, she has nothing to do with me. I didn't kill her, so enough accusations."

"Alright, you didn't commit the crime," Jaune sighed.

"But what do we do with her body?!" Yang exclaimed, asking an important question. She threw her arms out to the side in frustration. "Do we just put it in a corner to rot?!"

"That's all we can do," Emerald frowned, gazing at Velvet. "Who's moving her?"

Blake and Mercury hesitantly got closer to Velvet. They turned her over so she was on her back, Mercury taking her upper body while Blake took her legs. The rabbit Faunus's head fell back, surprising Mercury when he saw her black eyes staring back at him. He didn't look scared on the outside, but the image was burned into his mind forever.

They placed Velvet in a corner, her corpse sitting against the wall like a rag doll. Mercury went back to the group but the cat Faunus stayed in the corner, staring at Velvet.

'I'm sorry it ended this way for you, Velvet,' Blake thought, a sad expression present on her face. 'You died in a way that nobody knows what happened to you. We couldn't help you or get anything to save you. We'll find out who murdered you. I swear it.'

"Well..." Ruby said awkwardly, looking at everyone. "What now?"

Blake's head snapped to the right, staring at the group, as she had no ideas. Jaune began searching for anything to keep their minds off their friend's death for at least a little while, some form of entertainment. He even looked under the cushions of the chairs and couches, the rest of them watching him in confusion.

"Look what I found!" Jaune was kneeling in front of Neo's chair, holding up a deck of cards. "We can play cards," he grinned in pride.

"But what can we play with..." Nora trailed off, counting the people in the room. "Sixteen people?"

"We can take turns," Miltia suggested with a shrug.

"Okay, but what are we playing?" Yang asked.

"We could play, uh..." Mercury looked up in thought. "Speed."

A loud whoop almost made Jaune drop the cards, making the rest of them jump in surprise. Their heads turned to Roman, most of them glaring.

"Hand over those cards, Vomit Boy," Roman exclaimed smugly, shoving his hand right in Jaune's face. "I'm the Speed master."

Jaune quickly gave the cards to Roman, standing up in the process. Roman marched over to the couches and plopped himself onto one, slapping the cards down on the table in front of him.

"Who's playing against the mighty Roman?" Roman bragged, smirking as he dealt the cards. "Anyone?"

"I will!" Nora exclaimed happily, grinning as she raised her hand. She skipped over to the couch opposite Roman and took a seat, picking up her hand of cards.

"And... flip!" Roman announced as they flipped over two cards on the table so they faced the ceiling. The cards were a 2 and a Jack.

Their objective was to run out of cards to play by putting the ones in their hand on top of the ones in the pile in ascending or descending order. If neither of them could play their cards, they would flip two more cards from the small pile on either side of the current ones.

Roman was close to victory, having played seven of his cards and having eight left. Nora played four cards, leaving eleven in her pile. The criminal had a 7, 8, 9, 10 and a Jack in his hand, which he could certainly play on a 6. He now had three cards left, but they couldn't be played. Nora couldn't play either, so they flipped two new cards into the center.

Roman played the rest of his cards in one go, which caught everyone by surprise.

"What?!" Nora shouted in anger, throwing her cards down. "How did you—!"

"Speed master," Roman grinned. "Who's next?"

A good half hour passed and Roman beat Mercury, Miltia, Weiss and Pyrrha at Speed.

"I had one card left. Just one," Pyrrha grumbled, staring at the 4 in the pile and the 5 in her hand. "And I could have played it."

"I want to play next!" Penny rushed to take Pyrrha's place. The flaming red-haired girl left the playing area dejectedly, going back to the audience. Penny jumped onto the couch and shuffled the cards.

"What's taking so long?" Roman questioned after two minutes of watching Penny shuffle.

"Just making sure the cards are randomized," Penny smiled innocently at Roman as she dealt the cards in an odd fashion, giving certain cards to herself without looking at them.

"Why are you dealing like that?" Roman asked suspiciously.

"Why don't you deal like this?" Penny tilted her head to the side, her innocent smile unwavering.

Roman frowned. 'There's something off about this girl, something that isn't right... Who shuffles for so long and deals like that?!'

The game started, but Roman couldn't play any of his cards, much to his frustration. Penny, however, kept putting her cards down like she was counting Lien.

"No! Stop putting down cards!" Roman exclaimed, not happy with her merciless playing. Penny didn't listen and was down to her last card.

"There. I stopped. I can't play this card."

"Good," Roman grumbled. "Let's flip."

Two cards were flipped and Penny played her last card.

"Speed!" Penny grinned in joy as she slammed her hands on the table.

"No! That game was rigged!" Roman frowned, not accepting defeat. "Rigged, I tell you!"

"Luck was on my side," Penny smiled.

"That's a lie!" Roman exclaimed, pointing at her. "You—!"

He was cut off by a thick cloud of purple smoke taking over the room.

"Not... again..." Emerald mumbled, drifting asleep along with everyone else.


	3. Stole Your Thunder

Weiss opened her eyes, quickly realizing that she'd fallen on the couch, the back of it digging into her stomach. Her arms were dangling over the edge and her shins were planted into the cushion. She noticed the small puddle of vomit directly under her face staining the hardwood, the aftertaste lingering in her mouth.

The smell in the air wasn't pleasant either. The room reeked of blood and puke... Wait, blood?!

Weiss slowly pushed herself off of the back of the couch, holding her stomach and wincing in pain. She groggily looked around, not paying her friends or enemies any mind except for Nora.

The bubbly girl was sitting regally on one of the comfy chairs, one leg crossed over the other like she was a queen. Her head was propped up by her palm while her other arm was on the armrest. She had a peaceful smile on her face, her eyes closed.

The reason Weiss paid attention to her was the crown on her head. More specifically, the silver tiara. She didn't remember seeing a tiara in the room. Leave it to Nora to make herself queen of the castle, but she was shocked when she figured out where it actually came from.

Her hair was down.

Weiss Schnee's tiara was sitting atop Nora's head.

What shocked her even more was the thin line going from her stomach to her abdomen and the large pool of red around it, colouring the once-pink dress scarlet. Weiss's head hurt more than it already was just wondering how or why her accessory was on Nora's head.

She ignored the headache when she checked Nora's pulse. She was gone.

"What...?" Weiss gasped, her hand retracting.

"Schnee?"

Weiss's head turned to her right. There stood Cinder, a bruise barely visible on her forehead. She had an amused smile on her face, her orange eyes ablaze.

"Looks like you did it this time," Cinder chuckled darkly, crossing her arms. "You're the one that staged this, aren't you?"

"What? Why?" Weiss spluttered. "I wouldn't kill them!"

"The evidence is right on her head, Ice Queen," Cinder smirked.

"Don't call me that!" Weiss said through clenched teeth.

"Why not?" Cinder raised a brow. "You clearly have an ice cold heart, one frosty enough to kill in blood as chilling as you."

"Y-you don't have any proof!"

Cinder gestured to Nora. "Exhibit A," she gestured to Velvet, "Exhibit B. You obviously wanted to blame me for this, Schnee."

"Why would I kill my friends?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

Weiss frowned. This was getting nowhere, she was too stressed about Nora. From the corner of her eye, she saw Neo hurry over to Nora, devastation on her face.

The ice cream girl had grown fond of the energy ball, not wanting her to die so early on. Neo lightly shook her before noticing Weiss's tiara on her head. She looked at the frowning heiress, glaring slightly.

"Looks like you made the ice cream melt," Cinder smirked at Weiss. "What do you have to say to her? You can tell little Neo took a liking to your friend."

"But—"

"Nora!" Ruby gasped, terror being freely expressed on her face. She'd woken up minutes ago and had seen Nora in this state. Ruby rounded on Weiss furiously. "Did... did you do this?!"

"No, I didn't," Weiss sighed.

Ruby glanced at Nora, taking note of the tiara. "I... don't think I believe you, Weiss. We can see your tiara."

"I didn't kill them!" Weiss defended, her hands slowly clenching into fists.

Most of them were awake by now, courtesy of the argument, which they watched silently.

"Weiss, I thought we could trust you," Yang sighed, disappointed in her teammate. "Now you kill a second year and a friend? I mean, it's pretty clear that you marked you territory," she gestured to her tiara.

"We thought you got better, now this happens," Blake said in disbelief. She briefly looked at Cinder, muttering an apology for accusing her before.

"Wha— she framed me!" Weiss growled, but it was too late. Her team lost faith in her.

"What about Ren?" Jaune frowned, glancing at the sleeping lotus. "He's gonna flip out."

What Ren would do when he woke up would be unpredictable. He'd never reacted much to anything, not even the one time he spilled tea on his pants, he'd only frowned.

"Should we hide her from him?" Emerald raised an eyebrow. "You look pretty scared of him."

"It's just that he's usually quiet," Pyrrha explained. "He doesn't say much, so we have no idea what he'll do. I don't think it would be right to hide Nora, though. She looks fine like that, like the queen of the castle."

"Wait, so we let her take my chair?" Mercury frowned. He really liked that chair, he didn't want to give it up just yet.

"Mercury!" Emerald chastised, flicking his arm sharply. "Are you serious?"

"Ow..." Mercury pouted, rubbing his arm and glaring at Emerald. "Fine, she stays there."

"But why were they killed?" Miltia chimed in. "Do they have something in common or something?"

The group thought about the similarities between the energetic girl and the rabbit Faunus, not coming up with anything.

"I'm sure they don't," Ruby replied.

"Maybe the Ice Queen could tell us," Cinder chuckled. "She would know the right answer, she did kill them, after all."

"I did not!" Weiss fumed, her face now red from her anger towards Cinder.

"But why would anyone kill them?" Yang asked, bringing the original subject back. "They were really nice, they never did anything wrong."

"But she took my hat!" Roman accused the late Valkyrie, pointing at her, only to be ignored.

"Maybe that's it," Penny gasped. "Maybe the killer killed the ones that nobody would think to kill! The goody two-shoes!"

'Did Penny say 'kill' that many times on purpose?' Blake thought offhandedly.

"That makes sense," Pyrrha nodded. "That means we can guess who goes next."

All heads turned to Weiss.

"It could be you, but I don't understand..." Blake mused. "You're the number one suspect right now."

"Just because she's a suspect doesn't mean she did it," Miltia pointed out.

"Are you taking her side?" Melanie sneered.

"No, just pointing it out."

"Hey, robot what's-your-name," Roman addressed Penny, not caring about her name for the moment. "Can't you analyze the tiara?"

"You want me to scan it?" Penny asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah," Roman nodded. "Then we'll know who actually killed her."

Penny approached Nora, who still had Neo clinging to her. The ice cream girl gave her the sad puppy eyes, holding Nora tighter. She knew Penny meant no harm, but she felt attached to Nora, as she took a great liking to her.

The android stared at the tiara, a faint whirring noise sounding as she scanned it.

"Well?" Pyrrha urged Penny, hoping the results didn't point to Weiss regardless of the accusations.

"Most recent fingerprint: Weiss Sapphire Schnee," Penny said monotonously, finishing up her scan. "At 13:27. Guilty as charged. Sorry, Weiss..." she sighed apologetically, glancing at the hurt heiress.

"Huh! How? I couldn't have—"

"Weiss," Blake frowned, "your fingerprint is the most recent. You would've had to take it off to put it on Nora's head."

"Nora?" a male voice called drowsily.

Their heads turned in Ren's direction. He was just waking up, it seemed, and was clueless as to what had happened. None of them knew what to do, but they were certain that a bottle of intense emotions was going to burst very soon.

"What's going on?" Ren asked, confused. "Why are you all gathered around that chair?" He got up and made his way over to them.

"Oh nonono, you don't want to go there," Ruby said hastily, grinning nervously as she stood in front of him, waving her hands around. She was clearly stalling, buying time for the others to come up with some form of excuse.

"Why not?" Ren asked.

"There's vomit over there and it's really disgusting," Pyrrha laughed nervously.

Emerald frowned. 'I don't understand what they're doing,' she thought. 'He'll see it sooner or later. It's inevitable.'

Ren didn't believe them and looked over Blake's head, catching a glimpse of his best friend. His eyes widened in shock as he pushed past Ruby and Pyrrha to see Nora. The small crowd around the Valkyrie disbanded, even the villains getting the hint and moving out of Ren's way. Neo was still attached to Nora when he reached them.

"She..." Ren mumbled, clenching his fists as pure rage coursed through his veins. Who could have possibly killed his best friend? He noticed the familiar tiara sitting daintily on Nora's head, immediately recognizing it as Weiss's accessory.

Ren's head snapped in Weiss's direction, glaring viciously at her like a wild animal. He power walked to her, the heiress quickly backing up with her hands in the air as a surrender.

"Ren, l-let's be r-rational here..." Weiss stuttered, backing into a wall. "Would I really kill one of my friends?"

"Maybe," Ren hissed.

"Calm down, Ren," Pyrrha tried to soothe her teammate, fearing for Weiss's life at the moment. They knew how strong Ren could be without a weapon at his disposal.

"Yeah, green boy," Melanie added, crossing her arms with a small huff. "Calm yourself."

"She's the queen of the castle, see?" Yang smiled gently, gesturing to Nora. "She's been crowned. Nora's happy, Ren."

Ren glanced at Nora, sighing and unclenching his fists. He couldn't bring himself to hurt someone out of blind rage, it just wasn't him. Even if Weiss did murder his friend in cold blood, which all evidence pointed to, Nora wouldn't be happy with him getting revenge on her.

"Fine. Sorry," Ren apologized, walking away and sitting on a couch, staring blankly at the floor. Both Pyrrha and Jaune went to comfort him along with Ruby and Yang.

The remainder of them didn't engage in conversation, but contemplated on who would be next in line.


	4. 24 Hours

Cinder sat on the table, legs crossed one over the other, wondering why they were there in the first place.

"Who would want to bring us all here? It doesn't make sense," Cinder mused quietly to herself. "Two opposing sides..."

"Maybe they're just crazy and invited extra people for no reason," Yang shrugged.

"But your side is the one being picked off one at a time," Cinder pointed out, eyebrows knitting together.

"Maybe it's your side that's going for the kill," Yang said.

"If it was us, we would do that in a much more exciting way," Cinder countered.

"Alright, if you say so," Yang sighed.

It had been 24 hours since the moment everyone had arrived in the room. No more than two deaths had taken place and the occupants were growing hungry and thirsty.

"Do you think there's any food here?" Mercury asked no one in particular, lounging lazily on one of the chairs. "I'm starving."

"We're all hungry," Ruby moaned, holding her stomach in hunger, "except for Penny, I think."

"I'm not hungry, so I will look for food for you!" Penny exclaimed enthusiastically, grinning as she scanned the room for anything edible. "Nourishment detected."

"Where?!" Mercury sprung out of the chair, searching the room like he was on a mission.

"In that cupboard over there," Penny pointed to a cupboard at the back of the room.

Mercury was all over it in seconds, throwing it open with wide eyes and a grin. There were five boxes of cookies, three loaves of bread, two jars of peanut butter and jelly and twenty five bottles of water.

"Whoever left this is my hero," Mercury said gratefully, grabbing a cookie from a box and closing the cupboard.

"There's food and water?" Miltia questioned.

"Yeah!" Mercury exclaimed, his mouth full, causing a few crumbs to spray on the floor. "There's even stuff for sandwiches!"

"Mercury, say it, don't spray it," Emerald frowned at her friend's childishness. "You're acting like a kid."

"Given our situation, might as well do that while we still can," Blake muttered under her breath, staring at her knees and leaning back against the couch. "The clock is ticking."

"She's right," Melanie sighed, getting herself a cookie as well. "We have to figure out who's killing us and who will die next. No surprises."

"Well, we know there's sleeping gas before every murder," Jaune chimed in.

"And the suspect changes," Yang added. "First it was Cinder, then it was Weiss."

Neo gave Weiss a look, but the heiress didn't pay attention.

"Whoever it is, they must be pretty evasive," Roman said, smirking a little. "I wonder if we know someone who's trained in escaping..." He hinted, jerking his head in Blake's direction. "Do you know someone, kitty?" Blake glared icily at him.

She was about to say something when a soft thud was heard. Curiously, they turned their heads in the direction of the noise.

A lone blueberry cookie, a bite taken out of it, was on the floor.

"What's the matter, Mel—?" Miltia started to ask before she looked at her twin.

Melanie was gasping for air, holding her throat desperately. Her eyes were out of focus, her pupils enlarged and vision blurred. She could barely make out Miltia running to her before she collapsed in her sister's arms, still gasping and coughing weakly.

"Melanie?!" Miltia cried, fearing that it was her sister's time. She couldn't respond.

"What's going on?" Ruby gasped, rushing to Melanie's side.

The white clad twin gave one last long gasp before going limp, her eyes half closed. Her hands barely moved away from her neck.

"M-Melanie?" Miltia called weakly, gently shaking her. Tears formed in her eyes.

None of them had actually witnessed either of the previous deaths in the room, but this one was different in that sense. They saw Melanie die. They saw her struggle for air. The saw her go limp in her sister's arms and her mint green eyes grow dull and lifeless.

"She's... dead," Roman whispered in awe and confusion.

"How could this happen?" Miltia sobbed, the hot tears flowing freely from her eyes, streaking her pale cheeks. Melanie's skin was getting a pink tinge to it, something that didn't happen with Nora or Velvet. Miltia started shaking.

"Penny," Weiss ordered, "scan that cookie."

"Alrighty," Penny nodded, staring down at the fallen treat. After the scan, she blinked. "Those aren't blueberries, they're Belladonna berries. There appears to be cyanide in it as well."

"What?!" Mercury shouted in panic, finding a trash can and spitting his cookie into it. "Pleh! Pffft! You're kidding!"

"No. I can see if the other foods and drinks are safe, if you want," Penny offered.

"Yes please!" Mercury exclaimed, wiping off his tongue in disgust.

While Penny did her scan, Ruby and Pyrrha comforted Miltia, giving her shoulders to cry on.

"Everything else is safe to consume," Penny informed them. "Nobody else will die from poisoning. I'm sorry for your loss, though, Miltia, I truly am."

"Thanks..." Miltia snuffled from Pyrrha's shoulder, still crying over her twin's death.

"Did you say she ate Belladonna berries?" Cinder asked Penny, smirking.

"Yes. Why?" Penny tilted her head to the side, her curls bobbing as she moved.

"Well, like Roman said, who do we know that's escaped from many things all her life?" Cinder said in amusement, despite the death of someone on her side. "A certain Belladonna?"

Blake shrunk away a little, knowing the blame would be placed on her.

"It's just a coincidence," Blake said meekly. "I don't like killing people."

"That's an excuse," Cinder scoffed. "No wonder you're so quiet. You've been planning on how to frame us and make us look guilty, haven't you?"

"Hey, she wouldn't do such things, got it?" Yang defended Blake's innocence. "She wouldn't put cyanide or poisonous berries in someone's food."

"Well, maybe it's an old habit from her time in the White Fang kicking in," Cinder smirked.

The whole room went silent, even Miltia's sobs and Ruby and Pyrrha's soothing words ground to a halt. The intensity of it went on for a while, those still alive staring at Cinder in shock and disbelief and Blake giving the most hate-filled glare she could muster. Did the fire maiden just stoop that low?

"Now that," Roman blurted, breaking the silence, "was low. Even for you."

Cinder didn't say anything, still smirking at Blake as if she just one a contest. The cat Faunus broke down, collapsing on her knees next to Miltia. She couldn't take it. She wrapped her arms around Miltia and sobbed into her shoulder, causing the red twin to do the same to her.

"Weeping in shame, Belladonna?" Cinder rolled her eyes in disgust, sneering. "Pathetic. Just admit it already."

"That's enough," Pyrrha muttered under her breath, hugging the crying girls gently.

"Beg your pardon?"

"I said that's ENOUGH!" Pyrrha shouted, her head snapping up to glare venomously at Cinder. "Just leave these two alone! Just... Please!"

"Fine," Cinder shrugged it off.

"Cinder," Emerald sighed, "if we want to make it out alive, we have to work together."

"Together?" Cinder spat in disgust. "With those vermin? We can't even see eye-to-eye."

"Who'd want to see eye-to-eye with her?" Yang scoffed.

Both Cinder and Yang huffed and turned their noses up, looking away from each other.

"This'll take a while..." Emerald grumbled.

"We'll all be dead by the time those two get along," Mercury added, crossing his arms.


	5. Brawling Beauty

"Do you think we'll be haunted?" Mercury blurted from his spot on the floor. "I mean, don't ghosts hang around the place they were killed and move things around?"

"I hope not," Ruby muttered, a hint of fear in her voice. She glanced at Melanie's corpse, which sat beside Velvet's, leaning on her.

The pair looked haunting indeed, like possessed puppets ready to feast on their prey. Their lifeless eyes stared at her, seemingly boring into her soul.

"Well, at least we can eat," Pyrrha smiled optimistically as she patted Blake and Miltia's shoulders comfortingly. Their eyes were dry, but she wanted to be sure they were alright.

"Look what that did for Melanie..." Miltia sighed with a sad smile. "She was a great sister, but we don't know who killed her."

"I think you mean 'put the poison in her cookie'," Mercury corrected.

"Yeah, that's what I meant."

"But this is all over the place!" Yang interjected exasperatedly. "We have no idea for sure who's behind all this! First it's Cinder, then Weiss, then Blake! This is crazy!"

"Cool it, fireball," Cinder teased with a chuckle. "We'll find out eventually and probably reward them. They are getting rid of your side, after all."

"Over my dead body," Yang muttered.

"Maybe there are multiple murderers," Blake suggested. "If one person is the culprit, wouldn't they kill their victims the same way every time?"

"That's serial killers, and we don't know if the one responsible is one," Weiss frowned.

"Besides, who's to say they didn't want to spice it up? Mix things up a little?" Roman added smugly. "Doing the same thing over and over seems pretty blah, don't you think?"

"It could be one, it could be more," Jaune shrugged, "doesn't really matter. We just have to stop all this and go home."

"We do have to know," Penny disagreed. "If we think it's only one and we catch them, that means their partner could get away scot-free."

"But what if we think there are multiple and suspect a bunch of people when there's really one?" Ruby countered.

"You guys are confusing me!" Mercury exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air.

"I think they're confusing themselves," Emerald sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

A loud beep interrupted their debate before a white fog took over the room, making them cover their eyes, tears escaping them. Some of them sneezed and coughed violently.

Neo, through all the noise, heard a whimper and a thud. She tried looking to her left, but couldn't see anything. She'd temporarily gone blind, which would only last another minute. It was clear what kind of gas this was.

Emerald sneezed, leaning forward, grabbing onto something cold and smooth. She gasped, but coughed again and pushed whatever she held down a bit, earning the sound of squishy flesh moving. Emerald didn't pay attention to the noise, her focus more on the pain in her eyes than anything else, covering them with her free arm.

There was a soft whirring noise coming from the ceiling, which was a vent. After a short while, the gas dissipated and everyone could see again. What they did see, however, was unsettling.

"Yang!" Ruby gasped, rushing to her sister.

The position Yang was in wasn't the most pleasant kind, neither was Emerald's. Yang was on her knees, shoulders slumped, head down and blood trickling from the side of her mouth. In Emerald's hand was the very sword that impaled Yang's heart from behind, which still skewered her body.

"What the _hell_, Emerald?!" Ruby hissed, glaring at her with clenched fists, all the hatred she could muster practically radiating from her body.

Emeral blinked at her. "This..." - she slowly removed Myrtenaster from Yang's chest - "isn't what it looks like. I didn't kill her, I swear it."

"It's exactly what it looks like!" Ruby screamed, closing her eyes from the volume of her own voice. "The sword is right in your hand! We saw it when it was still in her body, with YOU holding it! _Why_, dammit?!"

Ruby dropped to her knees and held her sister's body close. "Why...?" She whispered repeatedly, sobbing so hard her eyes hurt.

She didn't care about the blood staining her already-crimson dress or anyone else that was mourning her sister, all she cared about was the fact that she would no longer hear her laugh. No more terrible jokes or puns laced with her sister's voice, no more ruffled hair from a playful headlock, no more joking about how Ember Celica was literally hand guns.

Most of all, no more Yang Xiao Long.

Sure, Blake and Weiss were devastated, crying on each other's shoulders, but nobody would miss her more than Ruby, the wilted rose.

"Well, looks like our problem's solved," Cinder said blankly, staring at Emerald. "Emerald did it. Don't even deny it, you. We saw you with the sword in her heart. Oh, Schnee," - she turned to Weiss - "you might want your sword back."

"I-I don't w-want it," Weiss sniffled. "Not if h-her bl-blood is o-on it."

"Alright," Cinder shrugged.

Neo frowned. Even though they were enemies, she couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit sorry for them. Despite the fact that she nearly killed the blonde intentionally, she deemed the brawler a worthy opponent and was sad that they could never face off again.

"Hey, have any of you noticed that the victims are all girls?" Mercury blinked. "It could mean something."

"I highly doubt that," Roman grumbled, wiping the running mascara off his cheeks. "It could just be a coincidence. When did you get so stupid?"

"I'm not stupid!"

"I was messing with you," Roman smirked. Mercury frowned at him.

"But why did you kill Yang?" Pyrrha asked Emerald with a soft voice.

"I didn't," Emerald said through clenched teeth, her grip on Myrtenaster tightening. "Here's the proof. Did this," - she held up Myrtenaster - "ever end up anywhere near me? I don't think so. It wasn't even in the room for that matter. I have no idea how it got in here, it's not like I can magically make weapons in the blink of an eye."

Ruby immediately stopped sobbing on Yang, her head snapping up. Pure rage, yet realization, shone in her silver eyes and etched onto her face. This rage was directed at Cinder, nobody else, not even Emerald.

"You can forge weapons affected by Dust," Ruby growled, her voice lowered. "I've seen it before. You're the only one who could bring Myrtenaster in here without leaving. You framed your own ally."

"Good grief," Cinder sighed dully, crossing her arms. "Why does everyone blame me for everything?"

"Because you have the motive," Blake frowned. She approached Cinder with puffy red eyes and tear stains on her face. "You've been arguing with Yang for a while and knowing you, you would want an enemy dead, no matter the method or cost. You'd do anything to get what you want!"

Cinder didn't respond with words, but her sickeningly sweet smile spoke plenty.

"Stop smiling like that," Blake spat.

"Why not? I'm the 'bad guy', as you call it. I'm supposed to be that way," Cinder chuckle in amusement. "You'd be clueless to think otherwise."

Both Blake and Ruby were taken aback, not from disbelief, shock or any sort or anger towards Cinder. It was because she was right. In all the books they've read, the main villain was, as Blake had described: selfish, wanting those who threaten their plans to be killed or harmed, but above all that, cunning. Cinder was supposed to be that way, she was the queen of the side they were fighting against.

Neither of the bookworms responded.

"Now that we're on the same page," Pyrrha chimed in, "could we please move Yang? I'm not comfortable with her... you know."

"Right!" Penny said dutifully, saluting. She picked up the deceased brawler bridal style, crossing the room before placing her next to Melanie and going back to her place beside Ren.

"Thanks," Pyrrha sent her a grateful smile.

"No problem, friend!" Penny saluted again.

'No, this is a problem,' Blake thought sorrowfully.

Blake didn't have a partner anymore. Her team was no longer RWBY, consisting of Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang. It was now RWB, Ruby, Weiss and Blake. What would it be like without her partner joking around, keeping the atmosphere light in the dorm and making them smile in the darkest times?

Weiss didn't have one of her closest friends anymore. She'd miss having the friendly rivalry revolving around making puns. She used to consider herself the loneliest of all, but Yang made her doubts melt away simply by burning hotter than the sun.

Ruby didn't have her half-sister anymore. Sure, they didn't have the same mother, but they were always like real sisters. No more laughs with Yang, no more puns, no one else to keep her safe and warm and to turn her life to gold. Her father was the only family she had left, and he was still living in Patch.

The yellow beauty burns no longer.


	6. Arc of Emeralds

It was much quieter now that Yang wasn't alive. Nobody to argue with Cinder, nobody to express their frustrations freely and openly. The remaining 13 weren't doing much, just lounging and thinking long and hard about things, not necessarily their situation. The only one doing some sort of movement was Penny, who shuffled the deck of cards in over 20 ways.

"So..." Ruby started, bringing their attention to her. "I'm making sandwiches. Anyone want some?"

"I do," Miltia raised her hand, Neo copying her actions.

As Ruby made three peanut butter sandwiches, it was silent once more.

"So..." Ruby said nervously, giving Neo and Miltia their sandwiches. She had no idea what to say to break the ice.

"Why do you keep saying 'so'?" Weiss asked. "Just curious."

"Why do you have to be like that?" Roman retorted, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. "Just let the girl start a conversation."

"I said I was just curious," Weiss frowned. "I don't like anything repetitive. It's a pet peeve of mine, you have them too."

"Ice Queen," Mercury mumbled.

"I heard that!"

A loud snap silenced her. Their heads turned in the direction of Neo, who had snapped her fingers sharply. She pointed to her sandwich, which had a bite taken out of it, in her gloved hand.

"She wants to eat her sandwich in peace," Roman informed them, somehow knowing what Neo was trying to get across. "It'd be best to respect her wishes if you don't want to get hurt."

"'Get hurt'?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Oh, yeah, she's a real powerhouse," Mercury smirked, glancing at Neo. "She's even got her weapon with her right now, it's at the back of the room."

Pyrrha looked where Neo's umbrella was, confused at what she saw. The pink weapon was propped against the wall. "But that's an umbrella."

When she looked at Neo, she almost wet herself. The ice cream girl had the most terrifying grin she'd ever seen, complete with an insane look in her wide eyes.

"Never underestimate her," Roman chuckled. "She could take you out before you know it."

'Take you out before you know it?' Blake repeated his statement in her head. 'Does that mean she...?'

"Was it you, then?" Blake asked Neo warily, not knowing the consequence of asking her the question in the first place.

Neo simply shook her head with a sad frown.

"Her umbrella's been over there ever since we got here," Emerald pointed out.

"You saw how sad she was when Nora died," Miltia added.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed, "that takes her off the suspect list, I guess."

*BEEP!*

* * *

><p>Neo's eyes opened and she realized she was lying on Mercury's front. With a small blush, she pushed herself off of him and looked at everyone else. They were unconscious so sleeping gas must have been used.<p>

Neo scanned the room, her eyes landing on Jaune, making her gasp silently.

Jaune lay motionless on the floor, like the rest of them, but was in a small pool of his own blood and not breathing. A stab wound was visible on his back, which worried her immensely. Neo slowly, carefully made her way towards him and knelt next to his body. She put her hands on his upper back and shook him lightly, deep concern on her pale face. Clearly, he was no longer alive.

Neo stood and went to wake Roman, shaking him roughly by the shoulders. When he showed no signs of waking, she smacked the top of his head repeatedly. He woke with a start, eyes snapping open.

"Ugh. What?!" Roman exclaimed, squinting his eyes in irritation.

Neo moved aside, pointing to Jaune, who was lifeless. Roman's eyes grew wide at the sight.

"Oh my God," Roman whispered to himself. "He's dead?" He looked at Neo for confirmation. She nodded silently.

"Jaune...?" Weiss's voice whispered weakly.

Neo looked her way, Roman unable to take his eyes off of the late Arc.

Weiss's expression was a combination of shock, sadness and distraught. She immediately regretted all the times she'd rejected him, the hurt she'd caused him. While it wasn't much, she still felt guilty. Here he lay before her, stabbed to death mercilessly and she couldn't apologize to him meaningfully.

He'd called her Snow Angel. The thought of that nickname never being used by him again saddened her.

"He died?" Weiss continued softly. "He's dead, isn't he?" Tears pricked her eyes, threatening to spill over the edge of her eyelids.

"Don't ask a question you already know the answer to," Roman shrugged.

Weiss frowned at him before dejectedly approaching Ruby. She was going to wake the rest of them up, starting with her partner.

* * *

><p>"Whoa," Mercury's eyes widened at Jaune's corpse, which they had gathered around. "I didn't expect him to be next."<p>

"Velvet, Nora, Melanie, Yang," Miltia listed the victims, counting them off on her fingers, "now Jaune. We should have solid evidence by now."

Pyrrha's Scroll rang, catching them off-guard. Pyrrha grinned nervously, despite the current issue, before turning it on. A video had been sent to her.

It was very short, about ten seconds long, but it was shocking. The video was at full volume, showing someone familiar grabbing Myrtenaster and killing Jaune with one swift stab in the midst of the purple fog. The two long locks of hair were a dead giveaway.

"Emerald?" Mercury exclaimed in surprise, looking at her incredulously.

Pyrrha kept replaying the video, not believing her eyes. Eventually, she closed her Scroll and looked Blake dead in the eye.

"Hold. My. Scroll."

Blake tentatively took Pyrrha's Scroll, watching silently as she marched over to Myrtenaster, furiously snatching the hilt.

"What are you doing?" Ruby asked cluelessly.

Neo's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She could see the familiar glint in her eyes clear as crystal. She herself had that same insane look right before she'd attempt murder.

Murder.

Pyrrha charged at Emerald, sword poised. Neo reacted quickly, grabbing her waist from behind, planting her feet in an attempt to stop her. They both skidded to a halt and Emerald moved away from them, true fear etched on her face.

Fear of death.

Neo didn't completely stop Pyrrha. The redhead had a top-notch throwing arm, after all. She raised her arms and positioned them like she was about to throw Milo at an opponent. Emerald looked like a deer in the headlights as Pyrrha threw Myrtenaster, piercing her chest and earning a shriek.

"Let me go," Pyrrha growled, ripping Neo's arms away from her.

Pyrrha trudged over to Emerald and took the hilt of the silver weapon. She lifted the dying girl, her feet coming off the floor, letting her body slide down the sword. The sound of her bones scraping against the metal was sickening, but Pyrrha didn't care, it was too late for her to. The redhead flung Emerald to where the other corpses were and she landed with a thud.

Emerald barely made a raspy noise before closing her eyes, succumbing to the darkness of death as it took her life in its open arms.

The remainder of them widened their eyes, blinking numerous times in disbelief.

"What just... how... huh?" Ruby stumbled over her words, trying to process the events that had just taken place.

"P-Pyrrha. Did you...?" Mercury stuttered in shock. He did not want an answer. He had just witnessed his best friend's murder.

Since everyone else was too shocked to properly respond to anything, Miltia took it upon herself to try comforting Mercury. She gently patted his arm, eyes downcast.

Pyrrha seemed to come to her senses, the madness in her eyes melting away into a disturbed realization. She gasped loudly, her guilt palpable. Myrtenaster fell to the hardwood floor with an empty clang, Pyrrha's hand outstretched as if she were reaching for whatever humanity she had left. Her hand shook, soon her whole body racking as well. Her knees gave out and she collapsed, her form unable to be seen by anyone else from behind one of the couches.

The poor girl gasped for air as she sobbed, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't believe she'd just killed someone. Why had she let her anger get to her?

"Oh my God..." she sobbed. "I'm so sorry... I'm a monster..."

Nobody would have thought that Pyrrha Nikos would be capable of killing anyone in any state. She was always polite, kind and welcoming, but after the events that just took place, they would never think of her the same way again.


	7. Melting Ice, Watering the Lotus

_What's going to happen to me now? _Pyrrha thought as she stared at Emerald with a frown, sitting against the back of the couch. _If we get out of here and I'm alive, will word spread that the Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes mascot is a murderer? I'll be ruined. I'll be kicked out of Beacon and so end my days in prison with all the criminals. Nobody would forgive me for my actions. Everyone will think my hair is red from the blood of my victims. How could I do this to myself?_

"Look, cereal girl," Cinder's stern voice sliced through the silence like a knife, "stop moping. People die all the time. Heck, five other people died here and you didn't shed a single tear. You probably saved her, I was going to toss her aside anyway."

"'Toss her aside'?" Pyrrha repeated, voice cracking. "After your plans were done with, you were going to send her out to the streets?"

"Well, I wouldn't need her anymore," Cinder shrugged like the green-haired girl meant nothing to her. "So stop crying."

Pyrrha frowned. Perhaps she did 'save' her, but that didn't change the fact that her blood was on Pyrrha's hands.

"Alright," Pyrrha sighed, standing up. However, she would never get over it.

"Don't worry, friend!" Penny grinned at Pyrrha, trying to cheer her up. "Things will get better!"

"Thanks," Pyrrha smiled in appreciation, not knowing what exactly she meant by 'things'.

'She clearly isn't the culprit, she's full of remorse,' Weiss thought, relieved that her friend had no intention of killing someone. 'I guess she's not a suspect anymore.'

"Wait, let me get this straight," Roman blurted out of the blue. "We saw that video of Emerald killing the blonde kid and hold the sword still in the fireball's body, right? If she really was the bad guy here, she's dead. Does that mean we're free to go? We're not held against our will anymore and we can leave?"

Realization and hope lit up their faces, even Ren and Cinder's. Were they finally free as birds again? Could they actually escape that hellhole?

"But Nora and Yang are gone," Ruby pointed out with a frown. "They were the strongest of us. How can we open the door?"

"I might be able to pry it open," Miltia suggested, claws exposing themselves from her bracelets.

Miltia walked up to the steel double-doors, sticking her claws in the narrow gap between them, causing it to open ever so slightly to accommodate her claws. She pulled on both sides, trying to separate the doors with raw strength.

Penny and Mercury noticed her struggle, so they pitched in by pulling on one door each. They separated an inch or two, allowing Miltia to see the glorious sight of the outdoors.

The luxury only lasted for a split second, however, as a gun was then aimed right at her face a few feet away. The red-faced girl shrieked and tore her claws away from the doors, panting, making the door slam.

"Why did you do that?!" Weiss glared icily at her. "We almost made it open, then you let go!"

"T-there was..." Miltia pointed a shaky finger at the double-doors, claws retracting. "...a g-gun pointed at my face! I didn't expect it!"

"'A gun'?" Mercury repeated in question.

"Yes. We're not safe here," Miltia paled, backing away from the exit. "We're in more danger than before. Obviously they're here to kill us!"

"Slow down," Blake cooed. "What did the gun look like?"

"What kind of question is that?" Roman snorted. Neo frowned at him, flicking his arm. "Ow!"

"I didn't get a good look at it," Miltia frowned, "but I saw... I think they were robots. Black and white."

"'Robots'?" Cinder repeated incredulously.

"Isn't Atlas's military full of robots?" Roman added.

Realization dawned on Ruby's face. She remembered seeing Ironwood introducing them to the masses while she and Weiss were on a mission a while back.

"Maybe Atlas is here to save us?" Weiss smiled for the first time in, what felt like, an eternity.

"If they are, I don't hear anything," Pyrrha finally spoke. "What are they waiting for?"

They went silent, straining their ears to hear any sort of gunfire or usage of weapons. Nothing happened. Weiss's frustration got the best of her and she marched up to the doors, pounding on them with all her might.

"I demand you let us out!" Weiss screamed to the soldiers outside. "I am Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. I order you to set us free! If you don't, I will call my father and he will deal with you himself!"

*BEEP!*

* * *

><p>It started with a few giggles, but soon it got out of hand. The green laughing gas had them all guffawing, holding onto things to keep themselves upright.<p>

Weiss pounded her fists on the door, cackling madly at nothing in particular. Her laugh was the most powerful, but it quickly died down.

"_Haaa..._ ha... HA... hahahee..."

Weiss's face contorted in pain. Her body shook as she clenched her fists, emitting an odd combination of shrieking and laughing. The heiress let out a shrill, pained cry as a cold metal was pulled out of her abdomen area. She could practically see the cracks in her vision, like her world was a piece of glass being broken. It shattered, darkness in its wake.

Weiss was gone. Little did anyone else know that Ren was in a similar state a mere few feet away, seeing Red everywhere he looked until he passed on.

* * *

><p>"Woooooo..." Miltia sighed in content, her laughter dying down.<p>

"Weiss?!" Blake cried, rushing to the heiress's side.

"He's gone too..." Miltia mused, kneeling at Ren's side. "He isn't breathing."

"Hold on," Pyrrha said firmly.

"...Yes?" Cinder crossed her arms impatiently.

"She's breathing," Pyrrha observed, "see? Weiss survived the stabbing!"

"Really?" Ruby's eyes lit up. She knelt down and gently shook Weiss. "Weiss! Wake up! Come on!"

A soft groan came from the white-haired girl, her eyelids fluttering open. She looked at them all in confusion before gasping.

"What! What is it, Weiss?" Ruby fretted. "Is something wrong? Are you okay?! How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three. But..." Weiss struggled to tell her the bad news. "I c-can't... feel my legs."

None of them could believe it. Even Miltia, who'd been examining Ren's wounds, stared at Weiss in shock.

"I'm paralyzed."

Ruby's heart broke into smithereens, the pieces slowly sinking into the depths of despair. She didn't want to believe her partner was paralyzed. They wouldn't be able to fight side-by-side anymore, heck, would Weiss even be able to attend Beacon anymore? They might never see each other again if she was wheelchair-ridden.

Weiss might have to go back to Atlas, too, so her family could take care of her for the rest of her days.

"P... Paralyzed?" Ruby choked out a sob.

Hell, even Cinder felt just a twinge of pity.

"Seems that way," Weiss sighed sorrowfully, accepting her fate.

"You're losing a lot of blood," Penny informed them. "If you keep bleeding out like this, you'll surely die in thirteen minutes and pass out in three."

"Alright."

"What, you're just accepting it?"

Weiss's head slowly turned in Cinder's direction, blinking a few times.

"Hmm?"

"It just doesn't seem like you," Cinder raised an amused eyebrow.

"Well," Weiss smiled softly, "life's too short to complain about every one of your problems. I'm dying in less than fifteen minutes, I don't want to be stressed in my last moments, even if I'm unconscious."

They were surprised at Weiss's words of wisdom. Those words would surely stick with them forever, even when they die, and past that.

"Weiss..." Ruby whispered. She suddenly gasped. "Weiss?!"

She was slowly closing her tired blue eyes. "Ruby..."

"Weiss! Don't leave me!" Ruby shouted as her partner's eyes fully closed. "NOOO!"


	8. Dance of Deceit

All was silent once again. Not too long ago, Weiss Schnee had passed away shortly after being paralyzed.

Ruby's gaze had been fixated on the heiress ever since she died, hoping desperately that her eyes would open or she would show just a single sign of life. First her sister, then her partner. Would Blake, her last teammate alive, be next?

_At least Ren and Nora can still be together_, Ruby thought optimistically, trying to blind herself from her heartbreak.

"Do you think..." Pyrrha started warily. "Do you think we're all going to die?"

"We will," Cinder frowned, "if we don't figure out who it is and stop them."

"I had a thought," Mercury tapped his chin with a finger. "Those were Atlesian soldiers, weren't they, Miltia?"

"Yeah."

"You said they wanted to kill us?"

"Yes."

"Weiss is from Atlas, right?" Mercury turned to Ruby.

"Well, yeah, but what are you getting at?" Ruby narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"While she was yelling at them and pounding on the door, she was killed," Mercury started. "Those soldiers were probably the cause. Is anyone here in the Atlesian military?"

"I don't believe so," Penny blinked, followed by a tiny squeal.

Mercury didn't pick up on her minor hiccup. "Rats. I thought I had a lead..."

*BEEP!*

Neo thought quickly, her hand flying into her pocket. She pulled out a pair of goggles and put them on as tear gas flooded the room. She rushed to get her umbrella, unaffected by the hazardous chemicals.

She had to end this, fast.

Neo glanced around her surroundings, her grip on the handle of her umbrella tightening. She saw all but two of her comrades wiping their eyes and groaning.

Out of nowhere, a flurry of gray approached her. She was quick to react by opening her umbrella, blocking the attack.

The steely gray came from all directions, but Neo could easily keep up. She was swinging and twirling her weapon expertly as she manoeuvred around the room, blocking every attack and, simultaneously, avoiding all obstacles.

Then it stopped. Neo halted also, leaning the umbrella on her shoulder and staying perfectly still. A sword flew straight at her, piercing her between the eyes, but she shattered on contact. Her attacker was left confused, searching for her through the gas. The redhead let out a cry as they felt weight on their shoulders, heeled boots dangling over them as they were sat on by Neo. They had an umbrella pressed on their neck as well, being threatened by the ice cream girl.

The attacker tried to pry the weapon away from their-self, growling at Neo. Neo held the umbrella in place with one hand while she pulled on their ahoge roughly, earning a scream. They both ran into a wall and the redhead threw Neo off of them.

The ice cream girl hit the couch with a thud, bouncing a bit on the cushions as they approached. Neo could make out a mint green dress as the girl stood over her, sword poised, ready to kill. Neo lifted her feet, kicking their chest and sending her to the table, which she hit roughly with a clang.

Neo was the one standing over her, about to draw her estoc when the gas cleared.

"Penny?" Pyrrha squinted at the two with teary eyes. "Why... Why are your swords pointing straight at her?!" Pyrrha frowned at the five poised swords.

"You were trying to kill her?!" Roman accused Penny, jabbing a finger in her direction.

"W-what?" Penny shot up from the table, storing her swords in her back. "No, I wasn't!" she hiccuped twice.

Neo took off her goggles, pocketing them. She pointed at Penny with a glare before making a slit throat gesture.

"If you tried to kill Neo," Blake started, "then why did you kill the others?"

"I... I..." Penny looked at her own trembling hands, closing them into fists. "I can explain!"

"Damn well you can," Cinder crossed her arms, sending her a glare. "First, explain the framings. Every last one."

"B-b-but—"

Cinder's blazing eyes shut her up momentarily. Penny somewhat composed herself and began to explain.

"That first time, when I framed you, I just moved her close to your chair. With Nora, I took Weiss's tiara and put it on her head. I'd touched her hand and copied her fingerprints, putting them on the tiara..."

Cinder nodded, urging her to continue.

"I also replicated Myrtenaster," Penny continued. "I made a fake video, too. Emerald didn't kill anyone, really. I... killed Weiss myself, too..."

"You never said anything about Melanie," Miltia pointed out with a frown. "What about her?"

"I had nothing to do with her," Penny blinked in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Miltia clenched her fists, storming up to her. "You're telling us exactly how you framed everyone, and now," -she poked her between the eyes- "you tell me you had nothing to do with my sister's death?"

"Yes. That's what I'm saying."

"You filthy liar!" Miltia growled. "You insolent little snob! Don't lie to my face. You killed her! You are responsible for Melanie's death! You—"

Miltia was interrupted by Mercury covering her mouth with his hand.

"You owe us, especially her, an explanation," Mercury frowned at Penny. "What happened with Melanie? How did Ren die?"

"It wasn't my fault, not those two," Penny sighed.

"So you have an accomplice, then?" Blake demanded sharply.

"I... um..."

"Spill it," even Pyrrha was very annoyed at this point.

"Yes! I do! I'm so sorry!" Penny looked as if she were about to break down.

Although that response was anticipated, they were still surprised.

Millions of questions popped into their heads. Who was it, first of all? Why would they side with Penny? What did those two have to gain from all this? Who'd been acting odd throughout the time they spent in the dingy room?

"Are you telling us," Mercury started, "or do we need to figure it out ourselves?"

Penny twiddled her thumbs nervously, so they opted for the latter.

"We don't have much to use from Ren's death," Pyrrha pointed out.

"Well, Melanie was poisoned by a cookie," Roman shrugged. "Is that a big enough hint?"

"The fact that is was a cookie?" Cinder scoffed. "I doubt that."

Miltia removed Mercury's hand from her mouth. "Well, who likes cookies?" she asked.

Neo pointed to Mercury.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, offended. "I only had one, and I spat it out!"

"That's only because you thought there was poison in it," Miltia smirked.

"Ruby likes cookies," Blake pointed out.

Ruby shrunk away, guilt and shame evident in her features.

"You haven't spoken once in this while discussion, either," Cinder added.

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" Roman jested, turning to Penny. "It was Red, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was," Penny nodded sadly. "It was all my idea, though! I swear!"

"You say that as if it was a prank!" Cinder sneered. "Eight people are dead because of you two! 'Your idea' what?"

"I was given orders—"

"From who?"

"...Ironwood," Penny confessed, no longer seeing a reason to lie. "He said he wanted to stop the White Fang and their side and send entire robotic armies after them. He wanted to destroy all threats to Remnant."

"Then why are we here?" Pyrrha asked. "My friends and I have nothing to do with the White Fang."

"He knew Ozpin would be opposed to sending armies and would send RWBY and likely JNPR straight to Atlas to confront him."

"And Velvet?" Blake pressed. "What about her?"

"He had no idea what could possibly be in that box," Penny blinked. "Frankly, he thought there'd be some kind of nuclear bomb. He wanted the bearer eliminated immediately."

"Then why are we in this damned room?!" Roman exclaimed, throwing his arms up.

"He wanted you taken out at the source!" Penny shouted, unable to stand the peer pressure. "He didn't want to kill Ozpin, so he wanted the teams killed because it was all stressing him out! He likely didn't mean it, but I always follow any order given! I'm sorry!"

There was a pause, allowing the information to fully sink in.

"Then, what about Ruby?" Miltia asked.

"He said I could spare any one person I wanted to, if they meant a lot to me," Penny let slip a tiny smile. "I chose Ruby because she'll always be my friend, she said so herself. But she had to work with me, too."

"But Yang and Weiss died," Blake narrowed her eyes.

"The victims were chosen at random," Penny explained. "After Velvet, at least. He wanted five of you gone, at minimum."

"The soldiers?" Mercury changed the subject. "They almost shot Miltia. What's their deal?"

"They were there in case we didn't reach the minimum number," Ruby spoke up. "The rest of us are free to go."

The double doors finally opened, revealing the bright and sunny outdoors. Penny was the first to exit, along with Ruby, and they went to talk to the soldiers.

"Eight kills, sir," Ruby sighed, regretting the whole stunt she pulled.

She'd had no idea what she was getting into, really. Ruby didn't consider the fact that Weiss or Yang would die, much less the two of them. All she had left was Blake and her father, but she hadn't seen him in a long while. She and Blake had never spoken too often, though, so they'd have to open up more. That would be hard with both their partners gone, but the two girls would try and become closer.

The remainder of them, one by one, exited also, trying to leave the events of the past couple days behind.

Blake's team had almost fallen apart. If Ruby hadn't had a certain chance of life, she'd be dead too. However, the remaining members had bad reputations. Blake Belladonna, ex-White Fang member. Ruby Rose, a murderer's accomplice, yet a murderer herself. Would they need replacements for Yang and Weiss? She definitely hoped not, things would never be the same.

Pyrrha, however, lost her entire team. Jaune, Nora and Ren were all dead. If Ruby and Penny ratted her out, would she go to prison? If she did, nobody would want to visit her, not even her parents. Their perfect daughter, commit a crime? They would think the contrary and test the court, only to find out the truth. Pyrrha would be cut off from her family and sent to prison for ten years, as they wouldn't take celebrities too seriously.

Miltia's twin sister was gone and Miltia didn't want to work with Junior anymore because of that. She'd be alone on the battlefield while her boss ran away from danger. Perhaps she could fill in for Emerald at Cinder's Faction?

Mercury certainly would be opposed to the notion. Nobody could just fill in for Emerald like that, in his mind. The two had been friends for a long while, almost a brother-sister relationship. Miltia could join if she wanted, but she was obviously not Emerald.

Roman, Cinder and Neo would be happy with a new addition. They didn't want to be a man short, after all. Besides, they already worked with Miltia in a way, why not have her work closer to them? The three didn't seem to be affected by the whole situation anyway, not negatively. Although now that they knew they'd be hunted, they'd be prepared.

What they may not be prepared for was whether or not they'd be sent to that horrid room again.


	9. Epilogue

Pyrrha had been in prison in Atlas for a month when Roman had, by chance, become her cellmate. She wasn't sure what he did, but she didn't want to know. She was miserable enough as it was with her ten-year sentence, but at least she was allowed to wear her armour.

"Roman?" Pyrrha addressed him, sitting on her cot. "It's been a month, right?"

"Since you've been placed here?" Roman raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, about a month."

"What are things like for you now?" Pyrrha asked, sweeping her bangs out of her face.

"So you actually care," Roman muttered bitterly. "Red and Blake never checked in..."

"Well?"

"Miltia joined our group," Roman started, sitting on his own cot. "She said she didn't have the motivation to be Junior's bodyguard without her sister by her side. I have to say, I like the kid more than Emerald. Much more willing to follow orders.

Mercury was pretty fussy about it, though. He thought she was trying to replace Emerald, but she wasn't. She just wanted a job she was happy with. I don't blame her for leaving Junior, if someone I cared about was gone—"

"Like Neo?" Pyrrha joked.

"She's just an associate! What part of that don't you understand?" Roman groaned.

Pyrrha giggled. "Go on."

"Alright, sheesh. Well, Cinder, Mercury and Miltia, with my help of course, released Grimm into Vale through some tunnels. That's why I'm here."

"What?!" Pyrrha gasped, shooting off her bed. She latched onto Roman's shoulders, looking him straight in the eye. "Grimm are attacking Vale? Are you serious?"

"Of course I am," Roman smirked before wincing. "Now get off me, you're clinging like a leech."

"Sorry," Pyrrha apologized with a sigh, letting go of him and sitting next to him. "I'm just really worried..."

"Don't be," Roman shook his head. "You're getting out in ten years. Everything is going to be extremely different, you shouldn't worry about everything that goes on outside this cell, alright?"

Pyrrha looked at the floor. "I suppose you're right..." she paused. "What's your sentence, anyway?"

"Don't know," Roman shrugged with a slight chuckle. "I wasn't told. I could be here for life for all I know."

"But you need to know your sentence!" Pyrrha exclaimed, looking at him in shock. "Don't you want to know when you'll be free at last?"

"It's fine, really," the corners of Roman's lips twitched upward. "Don't worry about my sentence."

Pyrrha spotted a guard doing his rounds, about to pass their cell.

"Excuse me, sir?" Pyrrha called politely, making her way to the glass cell door.

"What do you want?" The guard responded sharply, snarling at her. Clearly, he didn't enjoy his job.

"My cellmate doesn't know his sentence," Pyrrha informed him nervously. "Could you please find out for us? You could even bring General Ironwood, if you want."

"Hmm, how about this," the guard paused, watching Pyrrha lean forward eagerly. "No," he spat, walking away from their cell.

Pyrrha visibly deflated, shoulders sagging and face disappointed.

"You're being too soft," Roman chuckled. "You shouldn't be that way in a prison, not even with me. You'll be eaten alive by the inmates, especially at mealtime."

"Sorry, it's a habit," Pyrrha turned around and went to lie down on her cot.

"See? Did you just hear yourself?" Roman smirked. "No more apologies, got it? No 'please', no 'thank you' with the inmates, either. They'll see you as a wimp and push you around, whether or not you're a celebrity doesn't matter to them. They'll walk all over you like a welcome mat, which you might as well be. Understood?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Understood."

Prison life was going to be hard.


End file.
